Disposable office gown



Sept. 3, 1968 T. BRADLEY DISPOSABLE OFFICE GOWN Filed Sept. 27, 1966THEQDDYEE; BRADLEY FIG. 2

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,399,406 DISPOSABLE OFFICE GOWN TheodoreBradley, 147 El Dorado St.,

Monterey, Calif. 93940 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No.534,903,

Mar. 16, 1966. This application Sept. 27, 1966, Ser.

3 Claims. (Cl. 2114) The present application relates to a disposableexamination gown of the type adapted for hospital or clinical usewherein portions of the gown may be opened for observation andexamination of the patient, then re-sealedfor normal wear of the gownupon conclusion of the examination The present application is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 534,903, filed Mar. 16, 1966, andentitled, Disposable Examination Gowns.

The present invention relates generally to disposabl examination gowns,particularly for use in oflices.

Numerous previous inventors, such as Hutchison (Patent 1,080,451);Durand (Patent 2,680,850); Jelstrup (Patent 2,692,989); Palm (Patent2,701,364); Schalfer (Patent 2,715,902); De Witt (Patent 2,768,383);ODonnell (Patent 2,818,573); Melges (Patent 3,037,507); Lewis (Patent3,154,789; Derrick (Patent 3,155,984); MacDonald (Patent 3,160,891);Hmbecky (Patent 3,196,874); E. L. Ricter (Patent 3,218,649); L. G. Sabee(Patent 3,230,546); I. J. Grimm (Patent 3,156,927); and C. W. Brainard(Patent 2,973,523) have addressed themselves to the problem of designingdisposable examining gowns. However, the present gown designs arebelieved to constitute important improvements in the field.

Ofiice disposable examining gowns ideally must be designed to permitobservation and examination of both breasts at the same time, aspathology in the breast, which may cause minor distortion of the breastor difference in the size of the two breasts, may not be obvious whenone breast is observed by itself, but may be immediately obvious whenthe two breasts are compared.

Similarly, it is important to be able to examine the base of the neckand the axillae in continuity with the examination of the breasts sincethe tail of the breast extends into the axilla, and since pathology inthe breast spreads to the lymph nodes in the axilla and to the lymphnodes in the base of the neck. Examination of the axilla is best donewith the patients hands first on their hips so that the examinersfingers may palpate the lymph nodes in the apex of the axilla and thenwith the patients arm raised upwards over the head so that the lymphnodes-along the lateral wall of the axilla may be palpated. Thisexamination should be continuous with the examination of the breastsince pathology in the breast spreads to the axilla. Gowns that allowthe breasts to be examined by turning flaps laterally will obscure theaxillae and prevent the breasts and axillae from being examined incontinuity. Ausculation of the chest requires, of course, a comparisonof the two sides of front of chest, and then both sides of the back ofthe chest. Thus, disposable examining gowns must provide for examinationof both front and back.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an officedisposable examining gown characterized by simplicity in design and lowcost of manufacture, while permitting all examination functions to beperformed.

Another object of the presentinvention is to provide an officedisposable gown permitting examination of breasts, axilla and base ofneck in continuity without obstruction by gown.

Another object of the present ofiice disposable gown design is toprovidea simplified technique for reattaching portions of the gown, asdesired.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide PatentedSept. 3, 1968 ice an ofiice disposable gown permitting covering of frontof chest while back of chest is examined.

Still further objects of the present invention will become apparent fromthe specification and drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of suggested office disposable gownembodying features of present invention;

FIG. 1A is perspective view of office disposable gown illustratingfastening with staples 30 and adhesive;

FIG. 2 is front view of portion of office disposable gown provided withperforations 42 and cohesive-adhesive 44 for reattachment of gown panelsafter examination of full expanse of chest and back; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of office disposable gown secured with knot 34.

As seen in FIG. 1, the oflice disposable gown is generally designated byreference numeral 10 and consists of first and second sheets 12 and 14of disposable material folded along lines 16 and 18, respectively.

As sheets 12 and 14 are interleaved with one another, overlapping areas20 and 22 are defined in front and behind. At the top of both sheets 12and 14, cutout portions as seen in FIG. 2 define neck opening 24 andlateral arm openings 26 separated by shoulder straps 28.

Folded sheets 12 and 14 may be attached to each other immediately belowneck opening 24 by any conventional technique, such as the staples 30 ofFIG. 1A for example. Alternatively, adhesive, double-sided adhesivetape, pressure digitations, heat, or stitching may be employed.

Shoulder straps 28 are designed to be separated and reattached by anyone of the following techniques:

As illustrated in FIG. 2, shoulder straps 28 may be foldedlongitudinally to form a string 32 permitting same to be tied togetherin knot 34 (FIG. 3). Also, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, both ends ofshoulder straps 28 may be coated on one surface with a cohesive-adhesive36 that has a low peel adherence that allows the shoulder straps to bepeeled apart but a high shear adherence preventing same from beingpulled apart. In this manner, after shoulder straps 28 are peeled apart,cohesive-adhesive 36 will allow them to adhere together again. Stillfurther, the ends of shoulder straps 28 may be attached together byconventional snap fasteners (not shown) having male components on theposterior shoulder strap and female components on the anterior shoulderstrap. Of course, additional fastening technique may includepressure-sensitive tape such as Velcro, buttons or hooks.

A further feature of office disposable gown 10 pertains to perforations42 transversely located at the points where shoulder straps 28 areattached to front of gown, or transversely located at any point on theshoulder straps permitting same to be torn across enabling upper frontpanel 14 to be turned down for examining both breasts and the front ofchest, or to enable the upper back panel to be turned down to examineback. After examination, the panels and shoulder straps may bereattached by any one of the following methods:

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the underside of the ends of shoulder straps28 and the upper parts of panels 12 and 14 may be precoated withcohesive-adhesive 44 that has a high peel adherence and a high shearadherence similar to that used on self-sealing envelopes, permittingshoulder straps 28 to adhere to front of upper part of gown 10 forreattachmcnt. Alternatively reattachment may be achieved by snaps,hooks, pressure-sensitive tape similar to Velcro or by acohesive-adhesive that may be peeled apart and reattached. In thismanner, shoulder straps 28' may be permanently attached together to forman intact shoulder strap, while permitting upper front panel 14 andupper back panel 12 to be turned down for examination after whichshoulder straps 28 may be reattached.

Thus, low cost of material and ease of manufacture characterize ofiicedisposable gown 10. Instead of being constructed of several panels withstitched seams, as is prevalent in known gowns of similar nature, thepresent office disposable gown merely consists of two panels of paperorother disposable material that are folded and then interleaved together.In this manner, panels 12 and 14 may be divided in front and backbetween the thighs, but overlap permitting gown to remain closed whenpatient stands or walks. This overlap enables each fold of .paper tocover the patients thighs down to her knees, even while in lithotomyposition. However, the office disposable gown does not protrude beyondthe bottom of. examination table between thighs because it is dividedtherebetween. p i I As will be apparent, the top half of gown 10consists of a fiap in frontwhich covers the chest and a flap behindwhich covers the back. These flaps can be folded down to completelyexpose the front of chest separately or to completely expose backseparately. This enables the breasts, the aXilla, and base of neck to beexamined in continuity without obstruction by the gown. Likewise, theentire chest may be examined in continuity withoutobstruction by thegown. After examination of chest, heart, breasts and back, the front andback of upper half of gown are readily reattached.

Manifestly, changes in shape. of ofiice disposable gown 10, as well asalternative technique for attaching shoul- I der straps and panels ofdisposable material, may be employed without departing from the spiritand scope of invention.

I claim:

1. A disposable oflice gown, comprising: sheet disposable materialhaving front and back panels overlapping to define front and back areasof double thickness and predetermined size, said panels also containingcutout porf tions defining neck and armrareas, said gown including nearthe tops of said panels means for attaching said panels together withinsaid areas of overlapping, said gown further including means forseparating selected portions of said neck and arm areas "and reattachingsame, said means for separating being located'inte'rniediate said neckand arm cutout'ar'efas, said means'for separating and reattachingincluding p ei f o r ations together with sealing means adjacentthereto, 'f I f 2. A disposable ofiice gown as in claim -1, wherein saidperforations and sealing means are located at the juncture between themain body of said panels and remaining material definingsaid neck andarm areas. Y

"'3. A disposable oflice gown as in claim 1,-' said sealing means beinga cohesive-adhesive with low peel adherence and high'shear'adherences 41 References Cited UNI T'ED STATE PATENTS- 1,233,156 7/1917 Zies 2-1142,692,989 11/1954 Jelstrup 2-114 2,818,573 1/ -19 58 ODonnell 2-1142,973,523 3/19 61 Brainard et al. 2-46 3,155,984 11/1964 Derrick 2-1143,218,649 ill/1965 Ricter 2-114 3,230,546 1/1966 Sabee 2-114 818,3514/1906 Clark 2-114 FOREIGN PATENTS 1 600,109 6/1960 Canada.

7 OTHER REFERENCES" Sal-DotPr oducts, St. Louis, Mo. 7

RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR.,' Primary Examiner.

1. A DISPOSABLE OFFICE GOWN, COMPRISING: SHEET DISPOSABLE MATERIALHAVING FRONT AND BACK PANELS OVERLAPPING TO DEFINE FRONT AND BACK AREASOF DOUBLE THICKNESS AND PREDETERMINED SIZE, SAID PANELS ALSO CONTAININGCUTOUT PORTIONS DEFINING NECK AND ARM AREAS, SAID GOWN INCLUDING NEARTHE TOPS OF SAID PANELS MEANS FOR ATTACHING SAID PANELS TOGETHER WITHINSAID AREAS OF OVERLAPPING, SAID GOWN FURTHER INCLUDING MEANS FORSEPARATING SELECTED PORTIONS OF SAID NECK AND ARM AREAS AND REATTACHINGSAME, SAID MEANS FOR SEPARATING BEING LOCATED INTERMEDIATE SAID NECK ANDARM CUTOUT AREAS, SAID MEANS FOR SEPARATING AND REATTACHING INCLUDINGPERFORATIONS TOGETHER WITH SEALING MEAN ADJACENT THERETO.